1 Samuel 7:4

7:4 So the Israelites ¹  removed the Baals and images of Ashtoreth. They served only the Lord.

1 Samuel 8:2

8:2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second son was Abijah. They were judges in Beer Sheba.

1 Samuel 11:8

11:8 When Saul counted them at Bezek, the Israelites were 300,000 ²  strong and the men of Judah numbered 30,000. ³ 

1 Samuel 14:18

14:18 So Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring near the ephod,” ⁴  for he was at that time wearing the ephod. ⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “the sons of Israel.”

² tc The LXX and two Old Latin mss read 600,000 here, rather than the MT’s 300,000.

³ tc The LXX, two Old Latin mss, and a Qumran ms read 70,000 here, rather than the MT’s 30,000.

³ tc Heb “the ark of God.” It seems unlikely that Saul would call for the ark, which was several miles away in Kiriath-jearim (see 1 Sam 7:2). The LXX and an Old Latin ms have “ephod” here, a reading which harmonizes better with v. 3 and fits better with the verb “bring near” (see 1 Sam 23:9; 30:7) and with the expression “withdraw your hand” in v.19. This reading is followed in the present translation (cf. NAB, TEV, NLT).

⁴ tc Heb “for the ark of God was in that day, and the sons of Israel.” The translation follows the text of some Greek manuscripts. See the previous note.